


Crimson Moon

by celestial_seraphim



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Death Knight, M/M, vanroku
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2020-06-29 04:29:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19822546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celestial_seraphim/pseuds/celestial_seraphim
Summary: As a death knight, Roxas was one of the most ruthless: a dual wielder of Frostmourne artifacts. However, when he stumbles upon a poor soul abandoned in the snow, he feels a pull towards him, something deep inside that had been asleep for as long as he had been a death knight. Deciding to help Vanitas, the two of them join forces, unable to find the exact reason why.





	1. Chapter 1

At the moment, Vanitas couldn’t tell the difference between his own skin and the frigid snow around him. Cracking open one crimson eye was the best he could manage in terms of movement. Numb. All he could feel was the icy touch biting into him. It had burned as hot as a flame against his skin before, but now, he could hardly feel anything. Despite that, a smile tugged at his lips. It was a welcome change from the constant pain his life had brought. Even with the numbness overtaking his body, he still felt the singe of the soul marks melting snow around him, telling him he was too far away from his master. That was typical of Xehanort. It was his final message to him: you’ll never be free from this pain. He hadn’t even bothered to sever the tie. It was the chains that still bound him to his master: you are a tool and nothing more.

Out of the corner of his eye, he swore he saw a shadow moving closer, but he was far too exhausted to care. He would die soon anyways, remembering the sight of blood upon the perfect, pure snow when Xehanort had dumped him off his horse. He could only hope it was a virtuous traveler who would give him a merciful death.

The hooves of a nightmarish horse trod upon the freshly fallen snow, leaving a trail that was quickly covered up by the oncoming flurry. Snowflakes accumulated on a head of pale blonde hair, though they didn’t melt upon contact with his skin. Any other travelers stayed clear of the skeletal horse emanating a dark aura: the horse of a death knight. Roxas sighed as he ventured down the lonely path through the mountains. It was peaceful and the least likely way to run into anyone, not that it really mattered. Everyone knew it was better to avoid than pick a fight with one of the Lich King’s knights. Still, there was that slight stab of loneliness whenever the thought crossed his mind. The cold was nothing: something he felt constantly in fact as it made up his heart, his soul. In the muted landscape of the mountain pass, the only movement was that of a hare running through the trees every now and then.

He pulled at the reins when his phantom blue eyes focused on something…odd. Whatever this lump in the snow was, it was melting all of it around it, even exposing some grass until the flurrying snow from the sky caught up. The faint glow of red underneath made him hop off his horse, keeping a hand on the hilt of one of his swords as he walked over with caution. The soft groan of pain he heard made him drop his guard some. Was this..a person? He supposed a remote location with extreme conditions like this was the ideal place to drop someone off and leave them for dead. Roxas saw it as a cowardly way to get rid of someone. As he was about to turn to go back to his horse, he felt a tug at his heart: perhaps the side of him that was once human feeling remorse for the poor soul.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he turned once more and began pushing the snow off of whoever this was. Glowing cobalt eyes met scarlet ones as he dusted the last of the snow off. He could see now the splashes of blood strewn about the ground below the man who had steam wafting off of him. Roxas noted the soul marks etched into his skin, lighting up an angry scarlet that made the guy flinch in pain. What a sorry sight: a slave thrown away with the connection to his master still there.

“Your master didn’t even have the decency to release you before your death. How despicable,” Roxas sighed. Removing a glove, he tentatively touched one of the marks which resulted in a sizzle: sheer cold against heat.

Vanitas’ eyes widened as his gaze met the chilling eyes that seemed to freeze his very soul. A death knight?? Of anyone he could’ve been found by, he got found by a fucking death knight. Great.

“Just..please..kill me..I don’t wanna suffer anymore..it hurts,” he muttered with a raspy cough. He cried out as the marks weren’t letting his body stay numb now that he was out of the snow. A sharp pain cracked through him, ripping down his spine. “Please!!”

“What’s the point in dying? You’d just be doing what your master wanted.” Roxas’ blank expression barely changed even as he watched the other writhe in pain.

“Fuck you, death knight! You kill people all the time, so what’s holding you back?” Vanitas’ vision was starting to blur: snow and trees bleeding into one another. Roxas merely shrugged, glancing around before carefully picking the other up. Barely struggling against his hold, Vanitas, wracked with pain, could only ragdoll in his arms. Was this his fate yet again? Be made to suffer more? Mercifully, Roxas knocked him out before securing him to his horse which snorted indignantly at the added weight. It’d be much easier than having to deal with him struggling the whole way and would at least give him some temporary relief.

As he continued on his way to a nearby village past the mountain pass, he began to formulate a plan as to how he was going to sever the soul mark’s connection: brute forcing it wasn’t ideal, but there might not be any other way. He gave it some thought as he urged his horse onwards. Acherus..he could take him there. They could derune weapons there...probably works the same way on people. It wouldn’t be pleasant for him, but it’d be better than being constantly hurt by those marks. A slight smile crossed his face at the idea of possibly seeing his friends there. 

“Let’s go home,” he said to the horse that whinnied before galloping off past the mountains. 

When Vanitas awoke, he was met by the searing pain again as the marks on him lit up red once again, screaming that he was too far from his master. Gritting his teeth, he finally woke up enough to find he was tied up to a horse. Wherever they were, it was dimly lit with stone walls everywhere. Stones glowing an eerie green lit the way. 

“Where the fuck are you taking me?” he asked, trying his best to keep his voice even through the pain. 

“We’re in Acherus: home of the death knights. I figure out method of deruning weapons could work on you,” Roxas replied matter of factly. He soon stopped the horse, untying Vanitas and helping him down. Vanitas stood on wobbly legs, barely able to stand on his own. He begrudgingly let himself lean against the death knight. He was cold to the touch, even leaving a bit of frost by his feet, but that was a welcome relief for Vanitas. Feeling like he was practically on fire from the marks, he sighed in relief at the cold contact from the other’s skin. Passively, Roxas let him do so, wrapping an arm around to steady him. He supported him as they began to walk down the vast hall, eyes of every other death knight in there on them. 

“I’m Roxas by the way.” He figured he may as well know his name even if they may never meet again after he freed him. 

“....Vanitas…” he muttered through heavy pants. As pain wracked his mind, he found words were starting to become difficult. The stone walls and ghostly eyes of the other death knights around them started to meld together, feet stumbling as he walked. 

“Those runes are killing you. Eventually they’ll just fry your brain,” Roxas said in his usual cold voice. 

“Thanks for the observation...asshole..” 

“Let’s hurry. It won’t be a pleasant death.” 

Roxas’ usual blank expression changed to a grin when another death knight approached them with dark hair in a pixie cut eyes akin to Roxas’. 

“Hey, Xion. Been our busting skulls?” Roxas playfully elbowed her with his free arm. 

“Hey! You know it, but, uh, what have you got there?” She studied Vanitas testing a touch to one of the glowing red marks only to pull her hand away. “Soul marks..” 

“I found him abandoned in the mountains, disposed of by his master. I’m going to derune him..hopefully it works. I mean, it works on weapons, right?” Roxas had to end up dragging Vanitas by his feet as he had stopped being able to walk a second ago. 

“I can get it ready for you. I’m not sure if it’ll work, but it’s worth a try? Do you even know who this is?” She studied his face with sharp eyes. “He’s unusually warm..warmer than most humans despite the marks I mean. And he belonged to someone.” 

“We can look into that later. I think saving his life is..probably more important right now.” His voice had a slight warmth to it as he talked to her, warmer than how he’d talk to anyone else that wasn’t a fellow death knight. Xion gave them one more cursory glance before dashing off ahead with inhuman speed. With the weight of Vanitas, Roxas could only go so fast. With a sigh, he finally just carried him bridal style: a sizzle as hot skin collided with Roxas’ own frigid one. 

Inside, runes lit up the room as Xion was preparing the last one. She gestured to the platform, fingers gracefully gliding over the final rune. As gently as he could, Roxas lowered a whimpering Vanitas onto it, softly pressing his hand to his head. 

“You only need to endure this, and then you’ll be free from this pain,” he whispered for only him to hear before he pulled away. Vanitas could barely hear anything or even know where he was, his mind wracked with pain as he whimpered and writhed. Seeing as they didn’t have much time, Roxas went to join Xion. The two of them extended them hands out, focusing on the runes around Vanitas. In a flash of green, the whole platform lit up followed by ear piercing screams from Vanitas. Whatever burning pain he had been feeling from his own soul marks, it was multiplied tenfold as the runes around him started to physically strip away the bindings on him. It felt like claws were digging into his skin and ripping even though there was no visible blood. 

“Pl-please, just kill me! I’m begging you!” he cried out, back arching off of the ground. His nails scraped against the stone, dulling them down almost to the qik. There was a slight expression of cringe on Xion’s face as she watched him scream and suffer while Roxas wore his usual deadpan expression, seemingly unphased. He had a task at hand. He wasn’t going to slip up now. Any human emotions he had had before he was a death knight were long gone. 

This process went on for a few minutes more before the red glow of the soul marks on Vanitas gradually began to fade away, leaving behind stark white markings against his dark skin. In turn, his screams of anguish slowly died down to soft mutters until he passed out completely. With a sigh of relief, Roxas lowered his hand, going over to pick Vanitas up again. 

“I think it worked. His marks at least stopped glowing. These scars will stay though.” Xion walked up to inspect him, placing two fingers at his neck to ensure he still had a pulse. 

“I’ll take him to my room to rest and see if I can’t fetch some food for him.” 

“Good luck. This is Acherus full of death knights. It’s not like we really need to eat, but..I’ll help too. Maybe you could get your dragon to get something.” 

Glancing down at Vanitas, Roxas felt something akin to...relief..at seeing him not in pain anymore and breathing peacefully. In all honesty, he wasn’t quite sure why he had chosen to go through all this trouble for some poor abandoned soul but..something within him compelled him to. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://wow.gamepedia.com/Death_knight 
> 
> For anyone who wants to read more on death knights ^^

Vanitas groaned as he peeked one eye open. His entire body ached whenever he made the slightest movement, taking to wrapping the blanket that was around him further. The room was cold..deathly cold, but he figured death knights didn’t feel much of anything anyways. This place was probably like heaven to them. He could feel the chill in the air hang around him like a heavy cloak, piercing down to his core. Whispering a spell to himself, Vanitas warmed his blood up, giving him a bit of feeling back. Miraculously, the constant burning pain of the soul marks was gone. They must’ve been successful, then. He didn’t have the energy to look over himself at the moment, burying his head further into the blanket. 

“Are you not going to eat?” The cold voice cut down to his very core, even making him shiver a bit. Glancing up from the blanket, he finally noticed the death knight there just casually sitting there in his armor, phantom blue eyes watching him with an intense stare. 

Vanitas managed to meet his stare for a few seconds before having to tear his eyes away. “I literally just woke up. What the fuck do you want? And were you...watching me this whole time??” 

“Yes. I’ve never deruned a person before. If you died, I didn’t want your body just sitting there.” He spoke matter of factly with little to no change in his vacant expression. 

“Well, yeah, I’m still alive, fucker.” Vanitas paused as he tried to recall what had happened. Honestly, he didn’t remember much just..a searing pain and flashes of images, but it seemed that this death knight had helped him. “Uh..thanks..I probably would’ve died up on that mountain.” 

“Yes. You would have. And you’re welcome,” he said eyes flicking from a spot on the stone wall back to Vanitas. 

“And..what was your name again?” Vanitas hadn’t remembered much, but maybe he’d  _ try  _ to be cordial even if this was a death knight he was talking to: basically a slab of ice with a soul stitched to it. 

“Roxas. You’re Vanitas. You told me before.” With a sigh, he stood up to move over next to the bed. “Wasn’t sure what food you like, so I got a bunch from a nearby town. Do you need me to feed you?” 

“N-no! I’m perfectly capable,” Vanitas sputtered with a hint of red to his cheeks. With an audible groan, he made himself sit up with the blanket still wrapped around him like a cocoon. He avoided Roxas’ stare that seemed to study every tiny movement of his. Looking down, he spotted an..interesting array of food with cookies, fruit, pies, dried meat...how much did he think he was going to eat? Trying his hardest not to roll his eyes, Vanitas tentatively reached out to take a handful of raspberries. As he ate one, it wasn’t long until the rest was gone, licking the sweet juice off his lips. Maybe..he was hungrier than he thought. Glancing down at his arm, he noticed the white markings that were now the remnants of the soul marks. Those marks had been deeply ingrained in him and his own soul, figured that they wouldn’t disappear completely, but for once, he felt..free. He couldn’t sense Xehanort’s hold on him anymore, and it was strange..kind of like his purpose was gone, and he was left by himself. 

“Huh, this sure is weird,” he said aloud, though it was mostly to himself. His eyes narrowed at Roxas, holding the blanket closer to himself. “What’s the reason you did this? Are you..going to be my new master?” All he had ever known was serving another. There was a pang of fear at serving a death knight but..anyone could be better than Xehanort. 

“No. You’re free. I wouldn’t put you into another binding. Being bound to me would be like a death sentence after all.” Roxas shook his head, eyes still trained on Vanitas. It was strange to be around someone so warm when all he ever felt was..numb with a body that didn’t feel like his own. 

“Free, huh?” That word sounded so alien. It was a word Vanitas had never thought would be used for himself. “Where do I even go? What do I do?” 

“Wherever you want. Kind of the point of being free.” Roxas cocked his head to the side, and with curiosity, reached out towards Vanitas. Even with gloves on his hands, it didn’t hide the ice running through his veins. Vanitas visibly shuddered against his cold touch against the warmth of his skin as he traced a finger along the white markings on his arm. He soon pulled away with a sigh. “You can leave when you’re ready, but..” Roxas paused: a rare moment for him. He wasn’t usually at a loss for words: being blunt and saying what he meant, but that look in Vanitas’ eyes made him pause. “If you want to find your own purpose, you’re welcome to join my side for a bit. Company..might be nice. If you agree, there’s an artefact that I think would suit you.” 

This was more words than he’d ever heard a death knight speak before. It was strange to say the least. Why was this one so fixated on him? 

“I..guess? I don’t have anything better to do. My only purpose was with Xehanort, and I’m going to need you to lead me out of this place anyway,” Vanitas sighed, twiddling his fingers. Everything in this place looked the same to him: stone walls as cold as the death knights themselves. Roxas seemed like one of the less talkative ones, though it seemed like he was opening up bit by bit even now. Why not? If he survived Xehanort, he could survive a death knight..hopefully. It’s not like he had much of a choice now. 

A few hours later, Vanitas finally found the strength to stand up on his own. When the fuck did his clothes disappear? Did Roxas… Nope, he wasn’t going to dwell on that. Looking himself over in the mirror, he noted the old soul marks that wove down his neck to his torso and arms, now faded white markings on his skin. They served as reminders of his previous life: reminders of pain, but..Vanitas did have to admire the intricate patterns woven into his skin. It was odd to walk around and not feel that  _ tug.  _ He was free..completely free..and it felt..terrifying. Shaking his head, he went over to the neatly folded clothes Roxas had left. So, he had gotten him clothes too? Looking them over, he nodded in approval: a high necked tank top..maybe with his markings in mind, fur lined jacket, pants, and boots with plenty of fur to keep him warm. Hmm, not bad. Maybe the death knight had more fashion sense than he thought. Just as he was about to change into the new clothes, he felt a familiar icy glare on him. With flushed cheeks, he turned his head to see Roxas standing in the doorway, blank expression as always as his haunting eyes looked him over. Vanitas searched for an emotion..any emotion. He shivered as he quickly covered himself with the blanket. 

“What the hell?? How long were you creeping on me??” 

“Creeping on you?” Roxas mirrored his words with his breath visible from his lips. “I’m waiting on you, so we can go. Nothing more. Do you want me to leave?” 

“Well, I’d like some privacy, thanks.” 

Vanitas groaned as he watched him back out of the doorway. “Fucking death knights,” he whispered under his breath as he quickly clothed himself, feeling the cold of the room starting to bite into him. Looking himself over in the mirror with the new outfit on, he gave a nod of approval. It was nice to wear something new: something that really expressed..well, himself. Grabbing some of the left over food, he opened the door, nearly running right into Roxas who was standing right outside of it. 

“Geez, fuck, don’t stand so close to the door,” he gasped, clutching at his chest. He was never going to get used to those eyes. 

Without another word, Roxas showed him a large sword sheathed in a wide scabbard. He slowly slid it out to reveal a curved blade of obsidian glowing a fierce orange. A horned skull decorated its hilt with glowing eyes that seemed to gaze right through Vanitas. 

“This is the apocalypse artefact. I felt that fire would suit you well. It’s yours.” He sheathed it again before handing it to Vanitas. 

“Uh, thanks, but I’m not trained in big ass swords.” Vanitas accepted it anyway, seeing as Roxas wasn’t giving him much of a choice. 

“Oh? Then, what can you do?” Roxas motioned for him to follow as he immediately started walking down the hall. Vanitas quickened his steps to keep up with him. 

“Magic. I’m a blood mage,” he huffed, an obvious pout on his face as he followed after him now with a heavy sword at his side. 

“A mage, huh? Could be useful,” Roxas remarked, keeping his eyes forward. He had fought many mages before, but he couldn’t recall ever running into a blood mage. Vanitas couldn’t help but scowl at that remark as if he was some..weapon or something. 

“Well, you don’t have to be an asshole about it,” he grumbled, scuffing his boots against the floor as he walked. 

“I’m not trying to be.” 

* * *

Waves lapped gently at the shore of a glacial lake, water of the deepest and purest blue in the midst of a vast caldera. All around, mountains lined the horizon in a circle.    
“Hey, Riku! Look!” The paladin jogged up to the knight, holding a shimmering stone he had picked up off of the shore. “Isn’t it beautiful? This place reminds me of our beach back on the island.” 

A soft smile crossed Riku’s face as he accepted the stone, holding it up towards the sun. It was near impossible to frown when Sora grinned at him like that. 

“It is. Good find, Sora. There’s a lot of interesting geology here,” he said with a nod before handing it back to him. He couldn’t help but pat his head as he leaned down to plant a soft kiss on his forehead. “But we should keep going. There’ll be plenty more to see.” 

It was good to see him smiling like that. A brisk wind from the mountains tousled his hair slightly that was pulled up into a bun. Riku took a moment to close his eyes, breathing in the refreshing air. 

“Think we’ll run into more enemies on the way?” Sora asked as he kept up with his pace. He didn’t mind the fighting, helped him to stay in practice, but a break would be nice right about now. They had been travelling endlessly for a few days now. Sora could feel a slight ache to his legs already, but he wasn’t about to start complaining. 

“Oh, probably, but we can handle anything, right?” Riku kept his eyes forward and alert, but a gentle smile crossed his face, one only known to Sora. Though, Sora noted the slight hint of sadness that was beyond that smile everytime he looked at him. 


	3. Chapter 3

The ever winding halls looked the same to Vanitas, and he wondered how the hell these death knights even navigated this place. Fearing getting lost, he stuck close by Roxas, though the sub zero chill that constantly emanated from him made him keep his distance some. 

“I swear if I have to ride that weird ass horse of yours again…” Vanitas began, feeling the silence creeping up into him. This place was also too damn quiet. He needed  _ some  _ noise. 

“I have a dragon if you’d prefer that,” Roxas answered, not even turning his head back at all: voice hollow and as cold as his body. 

“Uh, yeah, no thanks. The horse is fine,” Vanitas huffed, crossing his arms in an obvious pout. It was strange...to feel..free. The marks no longer burned: no pull towards his old master. Honestly...he had no idea what to do now. 

As they approached the entrance with a faint light leaking into the gloomy halls, Roxas suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned to face him: phantom blue eyes staring Vanitas down. 

“You’re free now. What you want to do from here is up to you. You’re welcome to travel with me, but you may leave if you wish.” He crossed his arms with an expectant look on his face. Why was this death knight...so nice? Why was he doing all of this? He could’ve easily just left Vanitas in the mountains, but..he didn’t. All that he knew of death knights were of merciless beings who slashed at their enemies without mercy: dead souls trapped in a body of ice. Freedom? What should he do? ….where would he even go? 

“I...I’ll stay with you.” The word itself was frightening. He had spent so many years being told what to do, always sticking by Xehanort. To make his own choices...it was overwhelming to say the least. “I don’t know what to do...so, if you’re not going to make me belong to you, then, I guess I can travel with you. Freedom is...a foreign concept.” 

Roxas gave him a once over before giving a nod, turning around as he kept on walking. “Alright.” 

_ Alright?  _ Fucking death knights. Vanitas begrudgingly followed after him, not having much of a choice. He kept quiet again as he walked over with him to the stables, backing up as they neared Roxas’ horse. It stared down at him with that creepy skeletal face and eyes as haunting as a death knight. Even the empty sounds it made sent a shiver down Vanitas’ spine. Once Roxas was up the thing, he tugged Vanitas up in one strong yank. Vanitas grimaced as he nearly yanked his arm right out of the socket, rotating his shoulder a few times. 

“So...where are we going?” he asked, having no idea what the death knight’s plan was. He knew their king was currently imprisoned in ice or something of the like. 

“I’ve been information gathering, training. I’ll continue doing that. You can join if you wish.” With a motion of the reins, the horse moved forward. Vanitas gasped when it suddenly transitioned into a gallop, not having much of a choice but to cling onto Roxas. He felt a chill beneath his hands, though it wasn’t as harsh to him thanks to his own heat from his magic. Figuring he wasn’t really going to get any real answers from Roxas, he focused on the scenery as they rode. He watched as desolate fields and mountains slowly changed to brush and forest, letting himself go into a daze. What would his purpose be now...he wondered. 

A slight jab to Vanitas’ side woke him from his unsteady sleep, having to grab onto Roxas’ armor to keep from slipping off as he lurched back. A shiver ran down his spine as a blast of cold shot up his arm, having to channel mana into his arm to combat it. 

“What the hell???” He was about to jab him back when his eyes caught the scenery ahead of them. With a whispered wow, he leaned to the side to fully appreciate it. The mountains loomed close now, though the air was still pleasantly warm: a bit of a chilly wind coming down from the high peaks but nothing like the biting wind from the mountain passes. Lush forests surrounded them, clearing out to a small alpine lake. Its still surface as smooth as glass, reflecting the puffy clouds that dotted the sky perfectly. Only ripples from a herd of sheep lapping at the water’s surface disturbed the reflection. Past the lake, a town was nestled in among the cliffside. As they came up on the main road into the town, torches lined the way, currently in the process of being lit by a few townsfolk. Though, Vanitas noted, upon seeing the skeletal horse as hollow and cold as winter’s frost coming up on them with a death knight just as cold and deadly, they hightailed it out of there as fast as they could. Well, at least this would be a good way to keep people away from them. Roxas was a natural repellent. As sheltered as he had been, even Vanitas had heard the tales of the atrocities in the North. Death knights were like unyielding war machines. They lived to fight: brought back for that sole purpose and taking full advantage of their cold, unfeeling bodies. Even the words of the stories brought a chill into the room: stories that were told to leave children shivering in their beds and thanking the gods they were far away from the North and their king of ice. 

“This is Lunaris. It’s a small mountain town, figured it’d be a good place to get you acclimated. If you’re up for it, I’d like to see what you can do. What did you say you were? How do you fight? What use were you to your old master?” Roxas spoke as monotone and cold as he usually did, seemingly unphased by peoples’ reaction towards him. 

“I..I’m a mage..a blood mage,” Vanitas answered, the voice pulling him away from appreciating the beauty of this place. 

“Strange. I didn’t see a mage’s staff on you when I picked you up. Did you lose it?” Roxas slowed his horse down as they drew closer, hooves clacking against the stone road. 

Vanitas wrinkled his nose at the question, balling his hands up into fists. “I..I used to have one. Not anymore. I simply cast spells through my arms and into my hands.” 

“Hmm, I suppose that works, but without something to channel your mana through, don’t you end up wasting a lot of it?” These prying questions were already making Vanitas grind his teeth. They had literally just met. 

“Yeah, so what? I do things my way, alright? I can cast just fine without some stupid staff,” he muttered, crossing his arms in an obvious pout. 

Once they had stopped at the entrance into Lunaris, Vanitas blatantly ignored Roxas’ hand to help him down, jumping down from the horse himself. Though he nearly lost his balance, he kept on his feet. Roxas merely stared at him with unblinking eyes. With a shrug, he let his horse go to wander the fields by the lake, figuring a stable most likely wouldn’t accept a death knight’s steed. 

“You’re still weak from everything you went through. You should regain some strength before we do any sort of sparring or show of power,” Roxas said as he motioned for Vanitas to follow him. “You can eat at an inn where we’ll stay the night. Usually, I wouldn’t have any need for one. Sleep is...foreign to me, but I know you need to.” 

With a sigh, Vanitas followed after him. This was an unfamiliar town with Roxas being his only sort of guide. Being on his own...honestly frightened him. He needed to stick by him, even if he was a death knight. 

On the street, there was a clear path ahead of them as everyone went out of their way to steer clear of Roxas, shivering at the frigid aura that hung around him like the deathly cold of the North. Vanitas hardly noticed it thanks to the mana constantly running through his blood, keeping him warm and toasty. 

As soon as they were inside an inn and food placed on the table in front of Vanitas, he could feel just how much his stomach ached for it. With manners the last thing on his mind, he immediately started horfing whatever was on the plate down with a ferocity unlike any other. He was grateful that at least the area they were in was mostly cleared out thanks to Roxas. Watching a death knight just waltz into the inn must’ve scared them half to death, thinking a war was coming to this quaint town. 

“So, since we’ll be travelling together, I’d like to know more about you. Where did you come from? You can tell me about your time of servitude if you’d like. If your old master was planning something big, I should probably know about it.” Vanitas noticed that Roxas tended to word things carefully...an odd trait for a death knight. Though, he had seen what he was like around other death knights: friendly and maybe a bit of an asshole. Though he talked casually, there was still that bite of cold, of distance to it. 

“Hmph, you’ll have to earn my trust to get more of that,” Vanitas said matter of factly with a mouthful of food. Taking a gulp of water, he used his sleeve to wipe his mouth. “But...I can tell you a bit I suppose. However, I have some questions of my own for you, so you scratch my back, I scratch yours sort of thing.” 

Roxas nodded in approval, sliding the map he had taken out to the side for the time being. “That’s fine.” 

“Xehanort..I was a tool for him. He wanted me to unlock some sort of runes for him. He never told me why or what they were for. His people would bring back artifacts, and they used me to unlock them or something like that. One of them..I just couldn’t unlock for the life of me. It needed something more...I couldn’t do it on my own. I became even more reluctant when I began to catch wind of their true plans. When I wouldn’t do what he wanted, he got rid of me, and you know the rest.” Vanitas pushed the now empty plate aside, downing a mug of ale like it was nothing. “My turn now. I don’t know much about death knights besides the old stories. So, what exactly are you? You look human, but you’re deathly cold, and those eyes...it’s like you’re always looking right through me.” 

“I was human...long ago.” Roxas’ voice was quiet, soft even. His empty eyes were straining as if he was trying to remember something, but it was far, far out of his reach. “We were fallen warriors brought back. This body of ice keeps my soul within it. There’s a strange disconnect between my soul and this body: a body that is connected with the Lich King...our king in the North. This body rarely feels much of anything, but fighting and killing...can bring back some of the old feelings we had long forgotten. I suppose that’s why many of us enjoy it so much. Though the Lich King is imprisoned, I still feel his call in my very bones...in my very soul.” The last phrase came out more as a hushed whisper as Roxas placed a hand over where his heart would’ve been. There was almost a look of...remorse in those phantom eyes, a slight tug at his brows before it went back to his familiar neutral expression. “Does that answer satisfy you? May I ask another question?” 

“Ugh, yeah, go ahead I guess. You did say a lot.” Were all death knights this willing to just give out information like that? 

“Were you always owned by your old master? Or did you have a life before that? I’ve heard of many getting marked when they were children.” Roxas rested his chin on his hand, looking over Vanitas curiously. 

“Three years,” Vanitas began with a groan. This was really an interrogation, huh? “I was with him for three years. Before that..I lived with my brother, his teacher, and the other students. Xehanort just so happened to be a “friend” of my brother’s teacher. Him and I...we hold powerful magic within us. He wanted both of us, but I made my brother run, and let myself get taken so he could get away. So, there. That’s my story. Take it or leave it.” 

Roxas looked him over carefully with a practiced precision. They way his lips sealed closed and his crimson eyes stared right back at him, he was deadly serious about ending the subject there. 

“Alright. We’ll leave it at that for now.” Roxas had no inclination to pry any information out of him even if he was curious to know more. It would take time. While emotions rarely came through to Roxas, Vanitas was practically brimming with them. Better to not incite a total explosion or shut down. Trust. Trust took time to build up. Roxas was patient. He could wait. He let Vanitas finish off another ale before rolling his map back up and standing. 

“You must be tired. We can go up to the room.” 

With no objections to that, Vanitas followed behind him, noticing the grimacing looks of everyone else whenever Roxas came close. 

It wasn’t a far walk: up the stairs and the first door on the left. Vanitas squinted at Roxas when he saw only one bed in the room. He took a step back when he noticed the hint of a smirk on Roxas’ face when he noticed exactly where Vanitas was looking. 

“I don’t sleep, remember? The bed’s for you.” Once the door was closed, Roxas took the time to shed off his armor, releasing even more of a chill into the room as he was left in a loose tunic and trousers. Vanitas noticed he looked a lot...smaller without the armor though nonetheless deadly. He made a beeline for the bed when those cold eyes caught him staring, kicking off his boots. 

“So, I’ll be sleeping. You’re not just gonna sit there and stare at me, are you?” Vanitas took off the jacket, hanging it on one of the bed posts and didn’t hesitate to get cozy under the covers. 

“I’ll keep myself busy. I have a route to plan out on my map and other tasks, but I’ll be here. Get some sleep.” 

Vanitas certainly didn’t need to be told twice. He could already feel himself drifting off as soon as he closed his eyes, face nuzzling into the pillow. Whatever inn Roxas had picked out, this one had some comfortable beds. He acknowledged Roxas with a hum before sleep took him completely. He wasn’t sure what the death knight had planned or what he was aiming for in the grand scheme of things, but for now, this was the best course of action. 


	4. Chapter 4

Vanitas watched with a rather bored expression as Roxas took inventory of the supplies once he had woken up. He regarded him with a slight nod, not taking his ghostly eyes off of what he was doing. For once, Vanitas had had a restful sleep: free from nightmares and the like, just a simple, dead sleep. With another yawn, he stretched out much like a cat, groaning as he leaned forward to stretch his lower back. 

“Looks like you’re up. I don’t need food, but you do. We should stock up on things that will last for travel. Though I find it admirable you cast magic without a staff or crystal, you should think about getting one. It’ll help you in the long run,” Roxas said, as business like as ever which only made Vanitas roll his eyes as he finally got out of bed. 

“You said you wanted to spar, right? How about we do that before you go making decisions for me,” Vanitas sneered, making it a point to stick his tongue out even if Roxas wasn’t looking right at him. 

“That’s fine. We’ll be resting here for a bit, so whatever you want.” Roxas shrugged with a slight icy glance at Vanitas. “Your choice whether you want to use the sword I gave you or your magic. I’d like to see what you can do.” 

Choosing a place that was out of the way, they ventured to the large glacial lake outside of town. At the mere sight of the death knight, even the sheep dotting the field fled. Only those who were brave enough stood at a distance to watch what the two were going to do. Vanitas adjusted his gloves, getting himself into a readied position as he watched Roxas unsheath two frost laden blades that seemed to glow with an eerie light. There was something..unnerving about the aura around them. The eyes of the decoration by the hilts seemed to stare through his very soul. 

“Uh, what did you say those blades were? Artefacts?” Vanitas had to cough at first, voice startled and raspy. 

“Yes. Frostmournes to be exact: echoes of Lich Kings. It took me a long time to construct these.” There seemed to be a hint of a...smile..if it could be called that on Roxas’ face. He made of show of spinning both of the blades in his hands with ease which was rather impressive for his short stature. The frigid air from Roxas along with the swords was starting to freeze the edges of the lake with hollow, crackling sounds. 

“Lich Kings...uh, aren’t those weapons cursed or something?” Vanitas was sure a death knight probably didn’t care. In fact, up until recently, many of them served the current Lich King: Xemnas, though he hadn’t heard anything from him in a while. Xehanort had had some connection with him, but he had never taken Vanitas with him on his visits. He did know that there was an uprising amongst the death knights against the Lich King, but...now it seemed he was out of the loop. 

“They are, but…” Roxas hesitated a moment, a strange expression on his usually placid face. He seemed...torn..with the slightest furrow to his brows. After a few seconds, he shook his head as if he was dispelling a thought from his mind. “That doesn’t matter right now. Let’s spar. That’s why we came here, right? It’s a good way to get to know someone.” 

“Whatever you say,” Vanitas sighed, readying himself again. With legs steady and an arm extended, he focused his mana into his hands and blood. He wasn’t sure if a suffocation grip would even work on a death knight. They weren’t really...fully alive to begin with, but it was worth a shot. 

With his whole body glowing a brilliant crimson, he extended his arm and tightened it into a fist, focusing on Roxas’ throat. There was an effect on the death knight as he watched invisible fingers tighten around his throat along with a soft gagging sound, but that only made Roxas smirk: eyes turning sharp and deadly as he broke out of Vanitas’ magic with a sudden lunge forward. Doing better with some distance between him and his opponents, Vanitas instantly backed up. Before Roxas was even close to him, he was smacked with an icy wind at his approach. Gritting his teeth, he kept himself heated up, continuing to back track as Roxas was heading right for him. Roxas hopped up with grace, readying one blade behind his head with the other poised on the other side to swing both at once. Focusing his mana into his hands again, Vanitas cast a dark firaga right at him: eyes shifting from red to gold for a second. The blast of fire seemed to slow Roxas down somewhat. A body of ice disappeared into the inferno. A second later, a silhouette appeared through the violet fire with two points of blue showing through. The temperature wasn’t nearly as cold as before, but the smirk on Roxas’ face remained. Vanitas had to duck under the swing of two blades, growling at the feeling of ice forming on his cheek from the near contact, rolling out of the way. His hand shook slightly: a tremor that travelled up his arm. That spell alone had depleted a good amount of his own mana, putting everything he had into it, yet this popsicle still managed to come out unscathed. Roxas hardly gave him room to recover as he pivoted on his heel and came right back at him again. Cursing under his breath, Vanitas quickly armed his hands with a protection spell, effectively blocking the blows. 

“What the fuck?? Are you actually trying to kill me?” he panted, following up a block with a kick to his legs which did knock him off balance for a moment. 

“I take sparring very seriously. Best way to see what the other can do,” Roxas said with a grunt at the kick, though it only made him smirk more with an excited look in his eyes. 

“Gods, of course you’re one of  _ those. _ ” 

“I’m a death knight. We love fighting, remember?” 

With another growl, Vanitas focused his own rage. A darkness crept up from his torso to his throat. Now..wasn’t a good time for this, but..fuck it. Vanitas let the feeling flow through his blood. It gathered and gathered until it formed completely. Just as Roxas was coming up on him again, Vanitas gagged as dark goop spilled from his mouth, emanating a faint red glow from the magic of his blood. The substance moved and twitched as it started to take form: eyes of maroon that matched Vanitas’ opened and finally formed into a small...creature. The dusk toned thing, twitched the pointy antennas on its head, immediately hissing at Roxas who had stopped in his tracks upon seeing the whole thing. 

“Flood, attack!” Vanitas was sure as hell going to take advantage of this as he wiped his mouth. Rearing back, the Flood immediately pounced at Roxas. With a hiss through his teeth, Roxas veered back when it jumped right in front of his face: tiny claws raking against his cheek roughly. The Flood even headbutted him for good measure. Seemingly unphased, despite the jagged claw marks on his cheek, Roxas regarded the thing curiously. 

“Did you...make this?” he asked, kneeling down to Flood’s level. “Is Flood its name?” Flood’s fur...or whatever it was made out of, bristled as Roxas extended a gloved hand out to it, sinking one of the Frostmournes in the ground for now. 

“Uh, well, that’s the name that pops into my head whenever I make them so...yeah, I guess.” From Roxas’ relentless fighting style, Vanitas had been expecting a retaliation, taken aback by the sudden calm and curious demeanor. “I..I think they have something to do with my blood magic. If I feel a strong emotion, I can make them in different forms, whether I puke them up or cut my palm.” 

Flood slowly began to calm down as Roxas continued to hold his hand out to it, planting his other sword in the ground as well. The fur stopped bristling, and it curiously sniffed at him before affectionately rubbing its head against his hand. 

“There we go. Hm, you’re just like Vani, aren’t you? Fierce at first but sweet once trust is shown.” 

_ Vani?????  _

“And when did I give you permission to call me nicknames?” Vanitas tapped his foot, being sure to give Flood a glare, though the Unversed seemed to pay him no mind. 

“I can call you Vanitas if that’s what you prefer.” His eyes were still locked on the Flood that was already purring at the pets. 

Vanitas felt a heat rush to his face, glancing between the two before turning away with a scoff. “Vani’s fine..I guess…” 

“Good.” Roxas gave Flood one last pet before getting back onto his feet. “You still waste your mana not using a staff or something to channel your magic through, although, that dark firaga was impressive. If I was a lower level death knight, you would’ve destroyed me.” Roxas’ grin was playful as he sheathed the two Frostmournes. “But, I think I understand your fighting techniques a bit better now.” 

With the loss of contact, Flood went back to Vanitas, jumping up onto his shoulder and nuzzling against his cheek. 

“Don’t try to be all cute, you traitor.” Most of his Unversed, when summoned, usually absorbed back into him, but for some reason, the Floods were always the ones that continued to stick around. 

“Let’s go and gather supplies now. We can do whatever you want after.” The level of cold around Roxas decreased some now that he was relaxed again: his eyes back to their usual phantom like placid blue. As usual, he didn’t wait for Vanitas to answer as he turned around and started walking back towards the town. With Flood on his shoulder, Vanitas rolled his eyes and followed after him. He wasn’t sure why this death knight had such an interest in him, but he wouldn’t complain. It was better than being on the wrong side of one of his cursed ice blades. A hint of blush still peppered his cheeks as he watched the way he walked: purposeful and strong. How he said “Vani” still echoed in his mind. 


	5. Chapter 5

The massive lake surrounding Lunaris met Sora and Riku as they ventured up the main road. Normally, Riku was one to go for side paths and trails versus the main roads to avoid unwanted attention. Dark beings, potential enemies, and the like tended to be more common. Sora didn’t remember much of his past, but Riku was burdened with all of it. He  _ knew  _ that the wrong person just seeing Sora was enough to cause trouble, but Sora enjoyed seeing people, and this past week had been filled with nothing but empty wilderness and a passerby here and there. He had practically begged him to take a more well trodden route to Lunaris, and Riku begrudgingly agreed. 

“Fine, fine. But stick close to me.” 

Lunaris looked as stunning as it always did: a homely town nestled beneath a colossal mountain and lake. The frigid winds from the mountain’s summit mellowed out below, gently brushing past the green fields where sheep grazed. However, something up ahead just at the shore of the lake made Riku stop and place a protective arm in front of Sora. A..fight? No...it was more like a spar. They were going at it hard, but it was obvious from a trained eye that they were merely practicing, testing each others’ skills. Flashing bursts of fire collided with ice, creating a ghostly mist around the two. Most of the travellers and shepherds that were out made sure to steer clear of the two and for good reason. 

“Just great. A death knight and a blood mage.” Two deadly foes that him and Sora had run into countless times. When it came to fighting and battle, death knights were unrivaled: dead souls tethered to a body of ice that lived to fight. Blood mages were none better. If they took ahold of one’s blood, they were a goner for sure. Riku watched in disgust as the mage cut himself, and...creatures formed out of the blood that escaped. Sora, on the other hand, watched in amazement as they sparred. Sure, the Order of Light labelled things like death knights and some mages as enemies, but Sora always found their style of battling cool. He glanced over at Riku when he noticed his hand on the hilt of his sword, taking steps towards them as it seemed their spar was at an end. 

“Wait, what are you doing?” Sora asked, cocking his head to the side. He took a few steps of his own right in front of him. 

“We have our orders.” He sighed when he noticed that familiar stubborn look. “Ugh, I’m not going to slay them as long as they haven’t done anything ‘bad.’ I’m just going to make sure they’re not planning anything. We need to keep tabs on the death knights. Their citadel has only grown more and more active.” 

“That’s fine. Just don’t go causing a scene.” 

With that reassurance, Sora stepped out of his way and to his side once again. Even from far away, the mage’s magic could be felt in the air, carried over by the mountain winds: powerful and distinct. Either this mage was powerful, or he really had little to no mana control. As soon as Sora and Riku were within ten feet of them, Roxas’ head snapped over in their direction: phantom eyes sharp and focused, hands gripping the hilt of his dual blades. A blast of arctic wind emanated from him, chilling them both to the bone. Vanitas lazily glanced over, looking them both up and down with a scowl. Riku’s defensive stance wasn’t helping at all as Sora put up his hands in a peaceful gesture. 

“A knight and a paladin...what the hell do you want?” Roxas growled, baring his teeth as the very ground below him started to freeze. 

“Just here to make sure you’re not up to no good, death knight. Your blood mage friend there could’ve set this entire field on fire with that uncontrolled magic,” Riku said bluntly, staring him down with an almost equally icy stare before focusing it on Vanitas. “You do know there’s a law that all mages must use a staff, crystal, or something to channel their mana through for that very reason, right? Only rogue mages don’t.” 

“Who the fuck are you and why are you lecturing me on mage etiquette?” Vanitas scoffed, thinking about shooting a fira right at his face just for fun. 

Still looking as dignified as ever, Riku pulled out a pendant he was wearing around his neck, bearing a seal. Roxas audibly hissed upon seeing it. 

“Oh, I see: The Order of Light. You’re one of their knights: this paladin’s babysitter I’m guessing. Why don’t you just leave us alone? I was going to have Vanitas get a staff after this. I just wanted to see what he could do in the meantime. We’re not hurting anyone. So, do me a favor and fuck off.” The cold around Roxas was enough to cause the other three around him to start shivering. 

“Order of Light?” Vanitas mumbled. He vaguely remembered Xehanort mentioning something like that, though most of those memories were still repressed. Were they like...the police around here or something? 

“Riku, if he’s planning on getting a mage’s staff, then I think it’s okay. There’s no need to bother them.” Sora turned to bow politely at them. “I’m sorry about this. Riku’s very protective of me and keeping the Order off our backs, so...sorry.” 

Vanitas raised an eyebrow at the total opposite attitude this paladin had. Roxas had a similar reaction, though his serious expression didn’t change in the slightest as he looked Sora up and down. This was a new reaction from a paladin. Usually, they wouldn’t hesitate to bring a death knight down, but this one seemed...reluctant. By himself, Roxas would’ve taken them both down in an instant, but he kept peeking over at Vanitas as if waiting for a cue or..or something. 

“Why are you hesitating, paladin? I’m a creature of darkness: something hated by light. I should be on the top of your slaying list, shouldn’t I?” Roxas goaded, taking a few steps forward which made Riku do the same. Sora pressed a hand against Riku’s chest to stop him as best he could. 

“I only attack things that provoke the response. You guys were just minding your business, so I have no reason to attack.” He stared directly at Riku until the knight finally yielded with a huff. 

“You know, you’re lucky I’m a reasonable death knight. Anyone else would’ve taken that opening as a weakness and cut you down where you stand.” Roxas finally let go of his swords, walking over to stand by Vanitas. “If you approach us without warrant a second time, I won’t be so merciful.” 

“I wouldn’t let you take a single step,” Riku growled, though he stayed put at Sora’s command. 

Roxas’ scowl slowly transformed into a smirk, chuckling to himself in amusement. Riku couldn’t recall ever seeing a death knight laugh...at least like that. 

“You know what? I’m still in the mood for some fighting. How about you and I spar, knight? Since you seeming raring to go.” With grace and precision, he pulled out his dual Frostmournes, twirling them around in a show of skill before he readied himself. Okay, Riku had  _ definitely  _ never seen two Frostmournes wielded at the same time. In order to complete two… He shook his head, shaking off any nerves as he gave Sora a warm smile. 

“I’ll just spar with him for a bit, okay? I need to show I’m no pushover, then we can leave them be and go into town.” He kept his voice light for Sora, though his eyes still had a bit of fire to them at the premise of a fight. 

With a sigh, Sora nodded and stepped out of his way, over off to the side by Vanitas. As long as it was just sparring, it should be fine. 

“Hey, uh, Vanitas, right?” Sora smiled at the sideways glance he got from him. His eyes focused on the scars that marred his jaw but quickly looked elsewhere. 

“Yeah.” To be honest, Vanitas didn’t feel like talking to these strangers, but at this point, it’s not like he had much of a choice, feeling drained from the excessive use of his mana. “What were you? Sora or something?” 

“Yup! I’m Sora, and my knight is Riku. Sorry about walking up to you guys like that, but Riku insisted,” Sora sighed, shaking his head a few times. “We’ve been travelling, and all I want to do is relax, not hassle other people.” 

“I get it. We’re bad because I’m a blood mage, and he’s a death knight. It’s fine.” The little Flood of his perched up on his shoulders, nuzzling against his cheek affectionately. 

“Oh! That’s the creature that came from your blood. How cute!” Sora’s eyes widened and even shimmered a bit in the sun as he watched the Flood. 

“Uh, yeah. I suppose they’re kinda cute. Not my most powerful creation..” Vanitas was trying his best to remain stoic and uninterested, but...he had to admit the cheerfulness pouring out of Sora was a bit contagious. He always had been sensitive to the emotions of others. 

Meanwhile, Roxas showed no hesitation as he lunged right for Riku. His dual blades scraped the ground as he ran before launching himself into a jumping, blades poised right for his head. Even with his tall stature, Riku gracefully dodged the onslaught by ducking beneath it, drawing his own sword in the process. Boots skidding on the grass, he steadied himself, quickly readying his sword as it clashed with Roxas’. 

“Not bad. You know, you looked pretty small from far away, but now I can see you’re just as short as ever up close,” he sneered, using brute strength to push Roxas back some. 

Roxas bared his teeth as his boot connected with Riku’s leg in a low kick, causing the knight to lose some balance. 

“You said you’ve fought death knights before, right? You should know better than to insult us during combat.” The Frostmournes lit up a pale blue as he sent icy blasts of wind at him followed up by a few swipes of ice magic. Riku grit his teeth as he had to fall a bit in order to dodge but was soon back to clashing swords. Though Roxas was shorter than him, he was quick on his feet and unrelenting. He may have seemed a bit more docile than most death knights, but his ferocity came out in the heat of battle for sure. The two went at it until they were gasping for breath. Charging right at Roxas, Riku managed to pin him even as his sword was knocked out of his hand. Though it seemed he had won, Roxas had a blade pointed right at his heart, threatening to cast ice right into it as he smirked up at him. 

“So close,  _ Riku.  _ You should’ve disarmed me first. But good effort,” Roxas chuckled even adding a playful wink. 

Riku cursed under his breath as he felt a hint of blush spread across his face. Clearing his throat, he quickly let him go, picking up his sword and trudging back over to Sora. 

“Come on, we can head into town now. We should replenish our supplies. I think we’ve toyed with these two enough.” He gave Vanitas a good, long glare before turning his back to him. “And I’d better see you using a staff by the time you leave this town.” 

“What the fuck ever,” Vanitas muttered, showing a glare of his own before going back over to Roxas. “That kind of thing happen often?” 

“It’s common if you’re a death knight or anything the Order sees as dangerous,” Roxas explained, seemingly unphased by the spar as he joined Vanitas’ side again. “Let’s get you that staff, so we can keep them off our backs.” 

Vanitas responded with a nod, petting the Flood on his shoulder. He was travelling with Roxas to..find a purpose maybe? Recover? With freedom being something he hadn’t felt for years, he just went along with whatever Roxas wanted to do. A staff would be..nice. 

It didn’t take Roxas to quickly find a shop selling a variety of magical and mage specific items. He gestured for Vanitas to have a look around. 

“Pick out whatever you want. The choice is yours.” 

Choices, huh? Vanitas gave a nod before going up to the mage staffs on display. All the different varieties...it was almost overwhelming. However, after a minute of looking, he spotted a dark staff adorned with a blood red garnet at the top with specks of red interwoven into the dark metal. It reminded him of..well, himself, and there was some sort of force that drew him to it. As he felt the smooth metal underneath his fingers, he gave a nod, picking it up and feeling its slight weight in his hands. He could feel his mana starting to connect with the garnet crystal, watching as it glowed a faint scarlet. 


	6. Chapter 6

The nice thing about being around Roxas was that people steered clear of them. Even when the streets were busy, there was always a path for them to walk through. The deathly cold constantly coming off of him made them shiver and grumble under their breaths as they walked away. At least with the new staff at his side, that asshole knight would leave them alone...maybe. Vanitas glanced around as he noticed lights being strung up. The town seemed..much more bustling than usual. 

“You know what’s going on?” Vanitas asked, gesturing at the lights with his head. 

“Looks like a festival. It’s common in towns, especially near the mountains. Gotta have something to do,” Roxas answered, looking around with his permanent bored expression. “Helps keep morale up when the days get darker.” 

“Oh, right. Kinda reminds me…” Flashes of memories flashed through Vanitas’ mind: colorful fires, music and dancing. A voice...the night sky, a deep void with stars shining brilliantly and ones that shot across the sky. Staring at the lights, a bright, white light came to mind. He stopped suddenly with a sharp inhale of breath. How could he...how could he have forgotten. Roxas turned towards him, tilting his head to the side. 

“Vanitas?” He seemed...lost..until a sudden realization crossed his face. 

“I..I can’t believe I forgot. I...my brother…” Vanitas glanced down at his hands that were now shaking. 

_ Ventus! Run! Run as far as you can!  _

The last moments before capture was watching Ventus running off, watching the blonde keep going until he was out of sight. He had no idea if he had even made it back home, but the fact that he hadn’t seen any trace of him within Xehanort’s stronghold was enough..had been enough.

“Your brother? I didn’t know you had one.” Seeing the worried look on his face, Roxas unabashedly took his hand and led him over to a nearby bench, having him sit down. 

“Yeah..I..when Xehanort was after us, I pushed him off and told him to run so he’d only get one of us. But, I don’t know what happened to him, if he’s safe..he’s a mage like me, but a white mage: all light and all that. We’re..polar opposites really, but we got along somehow,” Vanitas sighed, running a hand through his hair. A flash of heat crossed his face when he glanced up and noticed how close Roxas was, looking him over with a calculating gaze. 

“Hm, I don’t usually get along well with beings of light, like the paladin.” Roxas growled the word slightly. “But..if he’s your brother, I suppose I can deal.” 

“Yeah, his name’s Ventus. Maybe..we could ask around places we go to. It’s not like he’s that well known, but it couldn’t hurt. We’re a..we’re a powerful force together. I think Xehanort ditched me because I had done my part, and he needed Ventus for the other. I can’t..I..I won’t let him go through the same hell I did.” 

Roxas narrowed his eyes a moment before nodding, noting the hint of a stammer when Vanitas talked. 

“I’d be happy to help. Seems important to you.” Roxas shrugged, still studying his face carefully. 

Vanitas side stepped a bit away from him, covering the part of his face that was quickly turning red. “Uh, thanks. You know, there is a thing called personal space. You don’t have to stand so close to me all the time.” 

“Personal space? Does the closeness bother you?” Roxas asked with a blank stare, though he respected Vanitas by staying where he was. 

“I-it’s not the cold coming off of you or anything. It’s just..a preference I suppose,” Vanitas mumbled, rubbing at his arm. How the fuck was he even supposed to explain “personal space?” As always, fucking death knights. 

As the sun began to dip behind the mountains, the sky took on hues of green making it look like an ancient sea dotted by a few stars here and there. The lights set up around the town were illuminated, and it seemed just as busy as it did during the day. There was even more life to it as vendors opened up shop. All kinds of food cooking filled the air along with hints of music. Vanitas was far too tired still to partake in much that was going on from the drain in mana earlier. He was fine with simply leaning against a wall and listening to the music. He opened one eye at the scuffle of footsteps and the familiar chill to the air. Roxas stood there with a few kabobs: fresh and steaming still. 

“Thought you might be hungry. I can get something else if you don’t like these.” 

Vanitas felt his heart thrum a bit at the gesture. It was...nice of him. Happily accepting them, he eagerly bit into them, making quick work of devouring everything on the first kabob followed by the next. 

“Thanks..guess I hadn’t noticed how hungry I was,” he said with a mouth still full of food. 

“Do you really need me to remind you to eat?” Roxas sighed with a shake of his head. He found himself swaying to and fro a bit with the music that was playing nearby. It evoked...something in him. It was like a distant memory that he could almost reach, but he was not quite close enough. Despite that, a slight smile crossed his face, content with just listening. He had only just met Vanitas and wasn’t sure if asking if he wanted to dance would be..a thing he wanted or not. He noticed Vanitas kept glancing towards the band. Just as he was about to speak up, his head suddenly turned at the sound of a commotion. A group, who looked like they had been nearly torn to shreds, came barreling into town. Beaten and bloodied, they stopped for a moment to catch their breath. From their weapons and gear, they seemed to be adventurers of some sort. Roxas recognized a fear in their eyes: they had seen something. A few of the townsfolk came rushing over, starting to tend to those who were injured. 

Roxas signaled to Vanitas with the tilt of his head before getting up and approaching the group. At the sight of the death knight, they instantly cowered. 

“Pl-please, we just dealt with a monster in the mountains. We-we don’t want any trouble,” one of them stammered, their hand far too shaky to even hold their sword. 

“Relax. I’m not here for a fight,” Roxas said cooly, keeping his arms at his sides. They didn’t seem to relax at all when Vanitas walked up with Flood on his shoulder. 

“A monster?” he asked, giving Flood a pet. Maybe vanquishing some monster would help keep that knight off their backs, maybe earn them some money too. Vanitas could definitely use the experience in any case. 

“A frost giant. We fear it may eventually come after this town, so we ventured out to put a stop to it, but...it overpowered us easily,” the mage of the group replied with a crestfallen look. “We’re experienced adventurers, and it made us look like absolute fools.” 

“Well...maybe we could give it a shot?” Vanitas suggested, scratching the back of his head. That definitely earned him a scowl from them. 

“There’s only two of you, and the five of us together couldn’t stop it.” 

Vanitas was about to suggest splitting the reward, but Roxas promptly stepped out in front, giving them an icy glare. 

“That’s true, but he’s a blood mage, and I’m a death knight who carries two Frostmournes. Are any of you capable of that?” 

Not one of them was able to hold his stare, scuffing their feet as they looked to the ground. “I didn’t think so. Let’s see what we can do against this giant. Keep the reward for yourselves if you want.”    
With a scoff, he grabbed Vanitas by the arm and pulled him along, grumbling to himself. 

“Uh, you okay?” Vanitas asked sheepishly, staring down at the hand on his arm every so often as they ventured towards the mountain path. 

“I just hate assholes,” Roxas muttered, though his voice softened at Vanitas. As he turned around, he took both of his hands in his, showing a rare soft look. “Are you ready? Frost giants can be tough, but your fire spells will come in handy. I can do most of the heavy hitting.” 

“Just another challenge, right?” Vanitas chuckled, pursing his lips as he tentatively gave his hands a squeeze. He felt as frigidly cold as ever, but there was some assurance to it that he trusted. 

“Right, we’ll show them what we can do.” With a final grin, Roxas let go of him and lead the way into the winding path that led further into darkness. The more they ventured in, the louder a hollow breathing sound became. It wasn’t long before they came face to face with a pair of glowing yellow eyes as bright as the full moon and unfathomably large. 

Sora being..well, Sora, the dancing going on during the festival was the first thing he wanted to do as soon as he spotted it. 

“Yes, yes, of course,” Riku sighed, letting Sora pull him along. He remembered many formal dances...from before. Sora would tire of having to dance with other royalty and drag Riku to the ballroom floor with him. 

_ You’re my knight. You gotta protect me, even here.  _

He smiled fondly at the giggles that always followed that. This festival dancing was much more casual, but he stayed prim and proper all the same. He smirked at the blush that crossed Sora’s face as he took his hand and planted a light kiss on his knuckles. Despite Sora’s memory loss, it seemed his muscle memory was still there. They moved gracefully and in unison, swapping who was leading every so often. It wasn’t long before Sora’s nerves were nearly gone, and he was laughing and clinging to Riku whenever he was about to fall. Riku did his best to hide his own embarrassment whenever Sora pressed into him rather closely. Part of him wanted to lean in even closer, feel Sora’s breath upon his lips, but he quickly caught the small of Sora’s back before he fell over as the music stopped suddenly. Everyone around them were looking in a certain direction. Upon the sight he saw, he nearly drew his sword out, but stopped himself as he saw two familiar faces. He scoffed, gritting his teeth at the death knight and blood mage walking back into town. The two of them were covered in some sort of ooze, dragging the skeletal head of a frost giant behind them. Its horns made an ear piercing grating sound against the stone roads. Once they reached the center of town, they dropped it off. Spotting the adventurers from before, Vanitas smirked, propping one foot against the jaw. 

“This is yours. No need to thank us for finishing the job you couldn’t,” he sneered, happily bumping against Roxas. His eyes met Riku’s, holding his gaze for a moment before smiling at Vanitas. Death knights could...smile? 

“Good work, Vani. Come on, let’s go get cleaned up.” Taking his arm again, he wrapped it around Vanitas’, not missing the opportunity to stick his tongue out at Riku as they passed by. 


	7. Chapter 7

Travelling from town to town, Roxas could tell Vantias was steadily getting stronger and stronger: much better than when he had found him in the mountains. His face was more filled out with a healthy glow to his skin. From time to time, he found his eyes wandering over his torso whenever Vanitas was changing clothes: following the way his back curved with taut muscles, though he quickly glanced elsewhere whenever Vanitas looked over at him. He felt...something, not exactly sure what. It felt like something he could just barely grasp beneath the surface of some murky lake. Being a death knight, he knew he was once a living human, now brought back as a soul somewhat tethered to a body of ice. Feelings came and went. The only time he had felt strong emotions were during the excitement of battle and the comradery with his fellow death knights. 

They kept on the travelling route Roxas had initially decided on. Vanitas hoped that maybe he might find some clues to Ventus’ whereabouts or at least recall..something. It really was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. He had nothing to go on besides the memory of when they were separated. 

“White mages aren’t very common. I’m sure if we ask around about that, we might get some answers,” Roxas assured him, patting his back. 

“Y-yeah, you’re right. I mean, who knows, he might have made it back home but..I dunno. It’s just a feeling I have.” 

“You know..might not be a bad idea to bring Xion in on this. She’s rather good at tracking down people. I can have my dragon let her know,” Roxas offered as they were taking a break under a large oak tree. Both of them weren’t fans of the hot afternoon sun. 

“Your other death knight friend?” Vanitas shuddered at having to deal with two death knights, but...he could really use the extra help. All he had to go off of was trying to sense Ven’s light magic, but so far, he was only getting hints here and there which possibly might be from other mages. 

“Don’t worry. Xion’s a bit..better at social things than I am. She’s much closer to how I’m certain she was when she was alive. I...well, my memory is still hazy, and I..don’t feel complete..anyways, she’ll be happy to help out.” Roxas’ voice faltered for a second before he returned to his usual cold demeanor. 

Vanitas knew better than to pry. If he tried, Roxas would just turn into a stone wall and not answer anything. By now, he called it a “shut down.” It was like he went full death knight: emotionless and unresponsive to anything that wasn’t a fight. Instead, Vanitas huffed out a sigh and focused on the wildflower fields that surrounded the tree. A gentle wind blew the blades of grass to and fro along with the prism like flowers. They seemed to almost glimmer in the sunlight: a multitude of colors on their petals. When a particularly strong wind blew through, it sent the petals flying up towards the sky: creating a rainbow of their own for a moment. All of this was..relatively new to Vanitas. He recalled bits and pieces of his time with Master Eraqus and the other students, but for a long while, all he had known were cold, stone walls, glowing runes, and pain. Many times, he could barely manage to fall asleep. His body would be exhausted, but his mind was elsewhere, hands shaking from a large loss of mana. Right now, his hands shook in a similar manner; however, it was in awe at the flight of the glittering petals in the wind. 

“They call those Aurora flowers for their many colors. They glimmer just as brilliantly in the light of the moon as well: mimicking both a rainbow during the day, and an aurora at night,” Roxas explained, watching Vanitas carefully. He studied Vanitas’ expressions of awe and wonder with his usual straight face. An idea surfaced in his mind, but from where, he knew not. With a shrug, he got up with a clink of his armor, waltzing over to a patch of Auroras. His gloved fingers skimmed over the petals with a careful, gentle touch. Roxas hummed before carefully picking a few. Vanitas raised a brow as he came back with the flowers in hand and knelt in front of him. 

“Bow your head,” he instructed simply, waiting for Vanitas to do so with a focused gaze. 

“Uh...sure…” Vanitas puffed out one cheek but slowly dipped his head forward, raven hair shifting slightly with the movement. His breath hitched when he felt something move a few strands of hair. With as careful a touch as Roxas used when polishing his blades, he began to stick the Auroras into Vanitas’ hair, admiring how the shifting colors popped against his dark hair. He smiled down at the tiny squeaks from the Flood, giving them a flower as they reached out with their stubby arms. Any petals that fell off from the flowers were scattered in Vanitas’ hair like confetti. Roxas admired his work for a moment before taking a step back. With a light touch, Vanitas felt his hair. The soft petals rubbed against his fingertips. 

“Did you...just put flowers in my hair?” He was almost afraid to move too much lest they just completely fall out. 

“Their colors look brilliant against the night sky. I thought it would be the same against your dark hair,” Roxas said with a nod. 

Vanitas felt himself immediately blush at how simply he said that, quickly glancing off to the side. 

“W..well, were you right?” he mumbled, watching Flood munch on a flower. 

“Yes,” Roxas said bluntly, holding Vanitas in his stare for a few more seconds before going to sit down again. 

Vanitas took in a sharp breath, still feeling like he was glued to that spot. How was he able to just...say things like that. There was a simplicity to it that made Vanitas’ heart pound. Gulping, he tried to get a hold of himself again, reaching out to pet Flood. 

“We should get going. If we head out now, we should make it to the next city before nightfall. Cities are hubs of information. We can find more on your lost brother there.” Roxas whistled for his horse who immediately came galloping over with a hollow whinny. 

Just as Roxas had predicted, they made it to a city as the sun began to dip into the horizon. A few stars were already dotting the twilight sky. Vanitas couldn’t recall ever seeing so many lights and people around, almost feeling a bit overwhelmed as Roxas slowed his horse to a trot as they passed through the gates. 

“Stay sharp. Pickpockets and thieves are rampant in areas like this.” 

Vanitas was thankful, at least, to sleep in a bed again. He didn’t mind camping out, but the comfort of a mattress could beat the cold, hard ground any day. The city was nice, but now that they were here, there...really were just too many damn people around. He almost preferred the deserted countryside. 

After finding an inn with a vacancy, Vanitas waited outside with the horse, taking her over to the stable despite the odd looks from everyone around them while Roxas secured a room. It was a good thing he had money. Otherwise, people wanted nothing to do with death knights. Vanitas had nearly forgotten about the aversion towards them. Roxas had gotten steadily better at talking with him since their first meeting. It had gotten to a point where Vanitas was rather comfortable with him, though, especially in the city, he could tell just how differently people treated him. He supposed he couldn’t really blame them. Roxas was technically “undead.” But still, he gave anyone the stink eye that dared to scoff in their general vicinity. 

“Hey, I’m going to the edge of town to call for my dragon and get Xion’s help. It shouldn’t take long.” 

Vanitas gave him a nod, proceeding to stay where he was leaning against the side of the building. Xion...he wondered if she acted similarly to Roxas. But..he supposed it was better to get all the help they could get. 

“Okay, I’ll be here.” 

Once Roxas had left to do...that, Vanitas took to zoning out. His eyes flickered between staring at the lights and the people walking about. Anyone who came a bit too close were met with a steely glare from him that made them immediately back off. He supposed he had had lots of practice to get that glare down. 

As he stared off at different people, he focused on something...oddly familiar, too familiar. There was a head of light blonde hair with a few spots where it stuck up. Vanitas recalled seeing that same blonde hair walking in front of him...under the stars. At the sudden realization, Vanitas nearly choked on his own spit, sputtering as he braced himself against the wall. Without a second thought, he bolted after the person, not hesitating to latch a hand onto their shoulder and whip them around. A bewildered set of green eyes met his crimson ones. The look of utter surprise from the other soon changed to one of recognition as green eyes watered up. Whatever he was carrying was dropped to the ground as he cupped his hands over his mouth in a gasp. 

“V..Vani? Is that you?” his voice warbled, tentatively reaching out to touch his face as if to make sure he was actually there. With a nod, Vanitas lightly brushed his fingers over the hand in reassurance. 

“Yeah, it’s me, Ven. I..I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.” 

It didn’t take Ventus long to tear up fully, sniffling quietly as he withdrew his hand to wipe his eyes. A wave of relief rushed through Vanitas. Must be fate or some stupid shit like that. His eyes narrowed, however, at markings on Ventus that were all too familiar to him. Intricate spirals in marks of red upon his pale skin cascaded down his neck, peeking through his rolled up sleeves on his arms. 

“Soul marks...who did this to you?” Feeling a stab of rage, Vanitas grabbed his shoulders but instantly let go as the marks lit up green with a cry of pain from Ventus. “Somebody marked you with those..is that what happened after we got separated?” Vanitas ran his fingers along the white marks along his own neck: the connection gone but scars still remaining. Ventus gave a sigh as the green light faded. Looking to the distant clock tower, he gave a nod to himself. 

“Is there somewhere more private we can talk? I have time. I’ll explain everything, but in return, can you promise to help me? Promise me you won’t leave again.” 

Vanitas bit the inside of his cheek, tearing his eyes away from him for a moment. How was he going to react to his...new companion? Though, knowing Ven, he really could be friends with anyone. 

“Y-yeah, I promise, but uh, some things have changed for me too, sooo, just giving you a warning. Come on.” Vanitas gestured in the direction of the inn with his head, trying to make this look as unsuspicious as possible. 

Ventus kept his eyes cast down as he followed him. It seemed..strange. Vanitas recalled him being his usual, friendly self. Right now, he seemed much more drawn back. He swore, if someone hurt him and made him like this, that was it. They were dead. 

Roxas hadn’t given him the key to the room, so they waited outside for a moment until Vanitas saw Roxas returning. It wasn’t hard to spot him as everyone basically jumped out of his way: glowing eyes focused on where he was going. At seeing the death knight, Ventus immediately cowered by Vanitas’ side. Roxas regarded Vanitas and gave the other blonde a cursory glance. 

“Who’s that?” he asked with a rather disinterested look, twirling the key around his finger. 

“Uh, well, I actually found my brother. This is Ventus.” He gestured to the blonde. Green eyes peeked out to look at Roxas. “Oh, this is Roxas. He, uh..well, he saved me actually.” 

Ventus gave him a rather confused look, eyes darting between him and the death knight who seemed to be expecting answers as well. Vanitas furrowed his brows and groaned. 

“Look, I know there’s a lot to go over. So, let’s just go to the room, and we can go over everything..figure out a plan on moving forward with this situation.” 

As they ascended the stairs, Vanitas kept staring at the soul marks on Ven. What bitch could have possibly done this to him? Vanitas already had his mind made up that whoever it was, they wouldn’t be breathing for much longer. 


	8. Chapter 8

Vanitas’ grip on the chair the whole time was almost enough to break it off completely. Every turn to Ventus’ story after they separated was making him grind his teeth to the point that Roxas had to elbow him to get him to stop. It was a good thing there was a death knight here to keep the emotions in the room under control. 

“And that’s how I ended up here. I..I keep asking if they can help me get back home now that I’m back to full strength but..” Ventus trailed off, twiddling his thumbs with a reluctant look. It seemed that he had caught on to their intentions long ago but was trying to hold onto the good in them. 

“But they keep coming up with excuses to keep you here, and now, they’ve soul marked you to the noble, so you can’t leave on your own,” Roxas said matter of factly with a sigh. It was the story he usually heard. Ventus was still naive and overly trusting. He seemed like the type to latch onto someone and fully believe in the good in them. “It’s not surprising. You’re pretty, blonde, and a powerful white mage. Your healing magic knows no bounds. Pure light white mages are rare, so when one comes up, they must be guarded until they’ve fully realized themselves and their magic, lest they be snatched up by dark forces or people with ill intent. Light can be good, but pure light can also be easily corrupted and used to harm as much as darkness can. You need to watch yourself.” Roxas kept his voice cool and even as he usually did, knowing anything coming out of Vanitas’ mouth was bound to be full of emotion. Someone had to balance it out. 

“I..I know. It was stupid of me to stay here for so long, and now I’m really in a pickle now. They..haven’t tried to corrupt or use me at least,” Ventus said, not even wanting to meet his brother’s gaze. “I wanted to regain my strength and go look for you, Vani..or our master. I didn’t forget about you. I swear!” 

Vanitas was contemplating whether it would’ve been better if they hadn’t separated: if he let Xehanort capture both of them but...no. If he had had both of them, he would’ve completed whatever thing he was working to complete. This was annoying, but it wasn’t something him and Roxas couldn’t handle. Dealing with snobby nobles who think they can just own whatever they want? Hell yeah, he’d take them on any day. 

“I know, Ven. We’re going to get you out of this, okay? I’m not mad...just frustrated I guess. I would never wish the things I went through onto you. I’m just pissed I wasn’t there to protect you.” Though he still had a death grip on the chair, he kept his voice calm, sensing the fear and apprehension coming off of Ventus. He always was easy to read, but Vanitas appreciated simple things like that. That was probably why he enjoyed the company of a death knight. 

As a smile crossed Ventus’ face, it was soon intercepted by a look of pain. The marks on him glowed a bright green for a moment. Ventus grit his teeth, taking a breath as the stab of pain only lasted for a second. 

“That was a warning. I’ve been out for too long, and I need to head back. I really don’t want to leave, but it’s better to prevent a worse punishment,” Ven sighed, standing up and picking up his bag. 

“Tell us where the estate is, and we’ll figure out a plan, scope out the place.” Roxas reached for a pad of paper at the desk, having him write down directions and a description along with the noble’s name. 

“When you do go over there, please be careful. She has guards and everything. I wouldn’t want either of you getting hurt for my sake.” Ven gave a bow to Roxas and looked to Vanitas, walking over and taking both his hands. Vanitas could feel him trembling slightly as he simply held them. “I’m so glad you’re okay, Vani. Looks like you have to save me...again. But I have faith in you.” 

“We’ll get you out of this shithole. Don’t blame me if I end up biting this noble’s head off.” With a smirk, he gave Ven a nod and watched him go. 

He watched Ven out the window until he disappeared around a corner, tapping a finger against the window sill. 

“Gods, what a mess. Looks like we’ll have to figure out a way to derune him like you did for me. That’s the best way, right?” Vanitas rubbed his face while he went over to get himself some water. Everything just had to be  _ so  _ difficult. 

“Yes, that’s the best way unless he has the will power to break them himself, but that happens very rarely. If you kill the noble while he’s still connected, he’ll die an agonizing death.” With a shrug, Roxas sat next to him on the bed, hesitating a moment before reaching out to squeeze his shoulder. “Xion should be here tomorrow. With the three of us, we can make a solid plan. I’ll talk to her, but we should be able to make our own deruning circle.” He let his grip on his shoulder linger before pulling his hand away. “You should get some rest. Looks like there’s a lot to do already.” 

Vanitas glanced at the hand on his shoulder a moment. There was that same bite of cold anytime Roxas brushed past him, but..he also felt a warmth there. There wasn’t much of a point in arguing with him, giving a nod. “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks...Roxas.” 

The next day was a change of pace as Vanitas woke up as soon as sunlight was peeking in through the window. As he got dressed and attached his mage’s staff to his belt, he glanced around the room when it strangely enough didn’t feel deathly cold. Roxas was nowhere to be seen in the room as a strange warmth he wasn’t used to feeling without the death knight there settled around him. Upon the desk was a lone piece of paper with a neatly written: I’ll be outside. Odd. Roxas usually waited, but..he did say Xion was stopping by. 

As he made his way down and out the door, he quickly spotted the pair by a lamp post. His eyes widened at the ridiculously huge sword strapped to the death knight with the short dark hair which he assumed was Xion. He watched from a distance for a bit, noticing the change in Roxas’ demeanor. Usually, he was cold as the air around him with a rather blank expression most of the time, but as he was talking with Xion, there was a smile on his face and actual...animated features like he was having a good time. Clearing his throat before approaching them, Vanitas slowly strolled over, offering Xion a wave as she looked over him with the same ghostly eyes as Roxas. Her expressions were a bit warmer despite the chilly atmosphere around them. 

“Good to see you again, Vanitas. You probably don’t remember much of me. I’m Xion. Roxas’ friend.” She extended a gloved hand out to him which he took with a sheepish smile back. “You were pretty out of it when I saw you. It’s good to see you healthy again.” Vanitas felt his cheeks turn a shade of red as she gave him a slow up and down look with an approving nod. 

“Uh, y-yeah. Thanks to you guys,” he stammered, hovering closer towards Roxas. It certainly didn’t help as Roxas gave his lower back a pat. 

“Yes, he’s doing much better. I got him a proper staff for his magic. He’s impressive.” Was he imagining things or was Roxas smirking at him. With a deep breath, Roxas soon got back to business with a more serious look. “Anyway, I was filling Xion in on the situation. We should go stake out the estate and figure out a plan. You are his brother: the dark half to his light magic. If you show up and say that, they may let you in. You should be careful, though. They may try to soul mark you too.” 

“Yeah, like I’m gonna let that shit happen to me a second time,” Vanitas huffed, balling his hands up into fists. “But..I’ll try to stick to whatever plan we come up with. Lead the way.” 

As usual, the crowds on the city streets were no problem with two death knights at his side. The path was clear the whole way to the estate. Buildings towered over into the clear sky above, and it all felt...a bit claustrophobic to Vanitas. He much preferred the open sky above him and the wilderness. It felt more...free. To him, cities felt more like prisons with people and buildings all packed together. Already, he was yearning for anywhere else: a forest, field, mountains. He had been shut away for too long to actually enjoy this. 

“This looks like the place.” Roxas motioned with his head as they took a turn to a mansion at the top of the hill closed in by an intimidating black fence all decked out with spikes at the top. It all felt..unwelcoming, like heaven with its massive gates, only letting the most righteous pass through. Looking at it honestly made Vanitas sick to his stomach. 

“They really like their privacy, huh?” Xion ran a finger down a part of the fence, nodding to herself. “There doesn’t seem to be any magic blocking runes or spells, so we’re good.” 

“I doubt that they would’ve. They want Ventus to use his magic after all.” 

The three of them branched off to scope out the property, taking in all the doorways, the workers’ movements, etc. It made Vanitas grow even more anxious. Really, he just wanted to bust in there, but..no, planning was good. 

After a bit of discussion, Roxas looked to Vanitas with a stare that seemed to go right through him. 

“Why don’t you tell them the truth and get an in that way? Xion and I can sneak in.” 

“The truth?” Vanitas cocked his head to the side. It couldn’t actually be that easy. 

“Yes, the truth. You go to the door and say you’re Ventus’ brother who’s been looking for him since he went missing. You can leave out the whole “I was kidnapped” thing. They’re probably not going to want to give him up just like that, but that’ll at least get you into the place, and you can meet the noble holding him there. If it goes south, you have your blood magic. Xion and I can rush in. We have almost everything we need to make a deruning circle. Sindra is delivering the rest of the needed materials.” At word of that, Roxas kept a close eye on the skies. There was that familiar icy touch on his shoulder. “I know you can do it. A handsome face like yours can fool anyone.” 

Vanitas felt his breath hitch, quickly diverting his gaze elsewhere. “Y-yeah, I’ll do it..” 

Sure, in theory this could work, but Vanitas knew himself: an impulsive bitch. 

“Come on, you can do it, and then we can derune your brother, and he’ll be free.” Xion offered him a smile, glancing around quickly to be sure no one was suspicious of them. With a drawn out sigh, Vanitas gave his own legs a pat before standing up. Before he could leave, Roxas stopped him, whirling him around. Vanitas did his best to not make a sound as the death knight tidied up his hair. Tried his hardest to not notice how nice those fingers felt combing through his hair. 

“There.” Turning him around, he gave him a strong push towards the gate. With that doing little to calm his nerves, Vanitas strutted up to the gate, promptly stopped by a staff stuck right in his way. He met the suspicious glare of the guard with a toothy grin. 

“What’s your business here?” Right down to it...okay. 

“Hi! I’m here for Ventus...the blonde guy who lives here. You see, uh, I’m his brother, and I’ve been looking around everywhere for him. We got separated, and I made a promise that we’d come home together. Soooo…” Vanitas loathed it, but he tried his best to sound...somewhat friendly, even giving a polite bow. Wherever Roxas and Xion had gone, they had vanished from the original spot. The guard’s glare only intensified, locked in a stare with Vanitas until he called over a servant. 

“Take this mage inside and inform the Lady of the House that Ventus’....brother is here. No funny business…your name?” 

“Vanitas.”    
Vanitas gave another bow before following after the servant, breathing a short sigh of relief. Well, seemed the truth was working...for now anyway. He did his best to not get sick at the gaudy decor as they entered the mansion. He was prepared to wait since most nobles hardly gave others the time of day. However, he nearly jumped at the sudden voice that greeted him. 

“Ah, the prodigal brother finally arrives.” The voice was whimsical, playful, and it made Vanitas want to throw up even more. With an inward groan, he faced the voice to see a woman with fair skin done up in the fanciest dress he had ever seen by the grand staircase. 

“You were..expecting me?” Vanitas managed to blurt out, forgetting any sense of manners. 

“Why, yes. Ventus has mentioned you several times. I was hoping that soon you would show up. I had my men look far and wide, but..you’re quite a slippery one to find,” she chuckled, gracefully fanning herself with a fan as ornate as the mansion. At the silence from the mage, she continued, eyes stopping at the scars of the past soul marks etched into his neck. “Forgive my rudeness, I go by Queen. I trust you are Vanitas.” 

_ Queen?? Gods, could she be any more pretentious?  _

“Yeah, that’s me. Known blood mage.” He shivered as a strange feeling crept up his spine. He wasn’t sure if it was from her presence alone or her stare but...this was weird. He didn’t dare take a step forward, remaining planted firmly in his spot. 

“Blood magic, hm? Ventus has told me you use more...dark magic. He told me you can make monsters from your own feelings. Now,  _ that’s  _ fascinating.” Shutting her fan, she took slow steps towards him, and it took everything in Vanitas to not back up at all. He already felt like he was practically choking on her perfume. Dammit Ven...did you really tell her everything? 

“Yeah, that’s right. Guess you could say he’s like my light half..in a way. I’d..really like to see him,” he said through gritted teeth, feeling like his emotions were about to spiral out of control any minute. 

“Those marks...what peculiar scars,” she noted as she walked up to him. 

“Yeah...I’ve had my fair share of problems. I just want to see my brother,” Vanitas said shortly. His voice was polite, but his glare was practically murderous: eyes taking on the shade of blood with speckles of gold. He relaxed some when she finally let up, turning around and gesturing him to follow with a wag of her finger. He prayed Roxas and Xion were nearby. There was a chance she might not let him out of this. 


	9. Chapter 9

The whole place reeked of gaudiness. It made Vanitas want to puke as he followed Queen through the twisting corridors. Gods, what was with nobles and making their mansions so overly complicated? Nevertheless, he tried to remember the route they were taking for his inevitable escape. He planned to run as soon as he was able to grab Ventus. He might be in pain for a while because of the marks, but with Roxas and Xion nearby, they should be able to derune him easily. 

“It must’ve been difficult for you to be separated from your brother for so long. You two are like two halves of a whole: darkness and light. I’m so very curious to learn your story. Tell me, what happened to you after the two of you were separated? Obviously, Ventus knows nothing of that,” she asked in an overly smooth voice. Vanitas grit his teeth at Ven just spilling all this information to her, but he couldn’t fully blame him. The way she talked...she definitely chose her words carefully and said everything in such a poetic way. Part of him actually wanted to trust her, but more of him knew better. 

“I got abused by some power crazy dude who wanted to use me to form some ancient ruin, but as you said, I’m only one half of a whole. He couldn’t do it with my darkness alone, so he disposed of me. End of story.” He was sure she wasn’t going to accept no answer, so better to put it bluntly and as vague as possible. After all, it was partly true that Vanitas really didn’t know much as to what Xehanort was using him for. All he had known was an inescapable hell. 

“Someone else interested in power I see. Sounds like someone I should get acquainted with. After all..” Her tone shifted some from an oddly warm, motherly one to one that sent a slight chill down Vanitas’ spine. “I’m not a fan of..competition.” 

“Yeah, well, you can take it up with him yourself. I’m done dealing with that old fuck.” 

Vanitas kept his voice firm and unwavering, though the grip on his staff shook a bit as he clutched it. 

Queen led him to some sort of greenhouse. Tall windows lined the walls with lush green trees, bushes, all sorts of plants. Vanitas squinted his eyes at the sudden bright sunlight. The Flood in his hood instantly cowered away from it, burrowing in deeper. He breathed a sigh of relief as he spotted Ven watering one of the trees. Violet flowers dotted its branches that glittered in the sunlight like coins in a fountain. 

“Dear, Ventus, we have an honored visitor here today who will hopefully be staying awhile.” She gestured him over with a wave of her hand. 

Vanitas was practically fuming as Ventus gave a bright smile and came walking over. It looked so..forced, most likely to keep the marks from hurting him: obey and you were scott free. 

“Oh my gods! Vani! You’re actually here..I..didn’t think I’d ever see you again.” Ven’s fake sniffling was as convincing as ever as he promptly hugged Vanitas tightly, taking the opportunity to whisper in his ear. “So, what’s the plan? Are you guys really gonna get me out of here? I mean..she’s literally  _ right there. _ ” 

“So? Never stopped me before.” 

Focusing his magic, he locked onto Queen’s blood until he could hear her heart thrumming in his head. It made him want to throw up, but she wouldn’t be conscious for much longer. Reaching his arm out, he focused on the flow of her blood and clenched his hand into a fist. Ventus gasped as he watched the muscles in her neck visibly clench tight as she started to gasp for breath. 

“You...filthy..blood mage,” she sputtered, trying to reach for the scepter strapped to her waist. She choked as Vanitas tightened his fist further. At the same time, the marks on Ventus began to glow followed by a cry of pain from the blonde, falling onto the ground and writhing. 

“Please. Did you really think I was just going to roll onto my belly and let you make me a part of your collection too? I’m here to free my brother, bitch!” Kneeling down, he picked Ventus up, holding him close to his chest. “It’s alright. You’ll be free of the pain as soon as I get you to the death knights.” 

As Queen attempted to grab them, the Flood in Vanitas’ hood sprang out, tackling her face and effectively knocking her back. As soon as they hopped onto Vanitas’ shoulder, he took off with a sprint towards the entrance of the mansion. The place really was like a maze, but thankfully, the Flood led the way, waving their little arms and squeaking as they pointed to the large doors. Just as they were nearing them, a chill swept through the room. The wavering flames of the candles were promptly snuffed out, leaving only wisps of vapor. Vanitas cursed under his breath as he heard the main doors latch securely. Feeling her presence, he sighed as he set Ventus down safely by the doors, instructing the Flood to stay with him. 

“Just hold on a little longer, Ven. This won’t take long.” With fiery red eyes, he turned around, slipping his staff into his grip with the garnet glowing fiercely as he faced her. 

“I should’ve known a creature of darkness like yourself would pull something like this. Now, I suppose I must bend you to my will, just like I did to the white mage.” 

Vanitas practically snarled as she pointed to Ventus with her scepter. 

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s see what tricks you have up your sleeve, hag,” he spat, wasting no time in launching a few dark firagas right at her. She merely smirked, reflecting them in different directions with a wave of her scepter. Her fighting style was much more long distance, sending homing spells Vanitas’ way which he aptly dodged, whacking a few away with his staff. He hissed as a fireball nearly hit him, searing the side of his face with a stabbing pain. Vanitas panted as he stayed light on his feet. His spells seemed to be doing nothing against her defense, not even able to get close to her as several of her servants would send ice and fire his way. 

“Fuck,” he muttered with labored breaths as he resumed his place guarding Ventus. “You’re not gonna win this. I’m getting my brother out of here.” As he glanced around, there were figures surrounding them on all sides besides the doors behind them. Vanitas grit his teeth as he kept his stance and staff raised. 

“I..can’t...lose. I won’t lose him again…” he mumbled, though his knees began to wobble. “I made a promise.” An overwhelming feeling rushed through his blood, emanating through his entire being. It wanted out...it needed out. Fumbling for his dagger, Vanitas sucked in a breath before slicing open his palm. Crimson dripped from the wound onto the polished floor below. Vanitas’ eyes now shone a frightening gold as he whispered under his breath. Despite a few ambient sounds, the room grew silent as the adversaries waited for whatever it was the blood mage was about to do. Vanitas practically shouted the last word of the incantation and a cackle of laughter filled the room. The voice that ebbed from his blood sent a shiver down their spines as the blood and darkness pooled together. 

“And you shall keep your promise,” it chuckled as a set of red eyes and jaws formed, though to everyone besides Vanitas it gave off the sound of some ancient, dead language. 

“A..a new unversed?” Ventus mumbled. Though he was still in pain, he managed to look up at Vanitas with shaky movements. 

“Tell me, master. Do you want these enemies smited? I’ll gladly do so.” The shadows and blood formed together into a being in a dark cloak with jagged antennas like the Flood. They peered down at Vanitas with pure red eyes and a crooked grin. 

“Smite? No, let them live with their sins but make them suffer, so I can get Ven out of here.” It took every ounce of self control to not say yes. It was tempting but..he knew better than to order them to kill with Ventus watching: a later date perhaps. 

“As you command, master.” They bowed dramatically before rushing at the servants. They seemed undeterred by the spells being flung at them as they gracefully dodged and blocked with their arms. Swirling darkness surrounded the new unversed as it unleashed it upon everyone in the room with a swipe of their claws. A brilliant red light emanated from their core as Vanitas’ blood imbued with his own magic flowed through them. Using the distraction to its fullest, Vanitas scooped up Ventus again, blasting another firaga at the door before he kicked it open. It didn’t take long as Roxas and Xion ran up to them with Xion easily taking Ventus from him as gently as she could. 

“Where were you guys? That lady was about to try to capture me too!” Vanitas pouted with a puff of his cheeks and crossing his arms. 

Roxas merely shrugged nonchalantly as if they weren’t in some sort of life threatening situation. “I had faith in you. It was better to just have you go in than raise her suspicions with two death knights walking in. Now, come on. We shouldn’t waste any more time.” 

There wasn’t much room for Vanitas to argue with that as the two ran off with Ven with Roxas grabbing onto his arm and dragging him along. Before he was too far away, he called for the new Unversed who came floating out with the usual jagged grin on their face. 

They ventured to an area shrouded by trees a little ways outside of town to avoid detection for the time being. With a sigh, Vanitas leaned against a tree, facing away from the others. He could hardly bear to listen to the whole deruning ordeal. He tightly cupped his hands over his ears at Ven’s cries of pain as the two deathknights worked on breaking the soulmarks’ connection. That turmoil, pain, hopelessness that he had felt..there were times where he had wished it on Ventus. He had often asked why he alone was going through this kind of pain and isolation, but...it seemed Ventus had been going through his own as well. He clutched at his chest the whole time until the cries had turned to soft whimpers. As he appeared from behind the tree and walked over to them, Roxas offered what seemed to be a look of pity or as much of one as a deathknight could manage. With a squeeze to his shoulder, Vanitas knelt down and brush a few strands of hair out of Ven’s face. The soulmarks had ceased glowing now more like scars upon his skin much like his own. Breathing a sigh of relief, he said nothing for the longest time, just rubbing his hand along Ven’s arm in a comforting gesture. 

“It looks like he’s falling asleep. He should be just fine, so don’t worry. I’ll look after him,” Xion said, giving Vanitas a reassuring nod. Her eyes seemed..just a little softer than Roxas’. 

He shivered as he felt a familiar cold touch to his shoulder. 

“You could use a break. Come on.” 

Not feeling like there was much of a choice, he nodded at the hollow voice and followed Roxas through the group of trees to the top of the hill. It perfectly overlooked the city almost like a painting. The two of them watched the dazzling lights against the darkness of the wilds, occasionally looking up at the stars. 

“You did it, Vanitas. I knew you could. You hardly even needed my help.” Roxas’ gaze remained fixed on the city. 

“Yeah, I did, but some help would’ve been nice. You know, we should start actually working together if we’re gonna be like..travelling together and stuff,” he said with the pout returning to his face. He glanced curiously at Roxas, watching the way the breeze slightly shifted his icy blonde hair. 

“But you found your brother. Wasn’t that the goal? I would think you’d want to return home now.” It was ever so slight, but Vantias picked up on a bit of..sadness to his voice. 

“Well, yeah, I mean, finding Ven was the current mission but...there’s still my old master, and..I feel like I haven’t really found my purpose yet. So, I still want to travel around with you...I don’t take no for an answer by the way,” he scoffed, giving one of Roxas’ boots a playful kick. “Our team work could use some work.” 

Staring at the lights of the city, Roxas felt his lips turn up in a smile. He felt...something..something deep within that had been dormant for a long, long time. 

“Yeah, sure,” he said simply and left the crickets and other creatures of the night to fill the silence. 


	10. Chapter 10

“The sun is stupidly hot,” Vanitas thought to himself as he tried his best not to nod off as he clung onto Roxas. The horse was going at a fast gallop with no signs of slowing anytime soon. He couldn’t imagine frost death knights enjoying this weather very much surprised that Roxas hadn’t started melting yet. The death knight only seemed to be exuding a more powerful icy aura as the heat increased. 

“Roxas, how much longer are we gonna be in this damn heat?” Xion barked from her horse with Ventus latched onto her. His cheeks were already slightly red from the sunlight alone. 

“Pipe down. We’re nearing a forest. We’ll be out of the plains soon,” Roxas said back with just as much bite. 

Vanitas wondered if Xion was going to stick with them or if this was a permanent party sort of thing. He didn’t necessarily mind Ventus tagging along, though he’d rather send him back over to Eraqus and the others. There was too much heat exhaustion going on for him to care currently. 

Once they entered the forest, the shade the thick canopy of leaves provided was sweet relief. Sighs were shared between all four of them. As the path narrowed, Roxas slowed his horse down a bit, keeping his eyes peeled for a place to stop. He was thankful his steed was undead like himself: water not needed, but their party had two who weren’t undead. As they passed a curve in the path, he spotted a structure that didn’t fit with the rest of the forest. Sunlight shone down through an open spot in the canopy over a crumbling building that seemed to be a small cathedral with a mini spire and everything. The broken stained glass window seemed to sparkle in the light with its shards strewn about the ground like glittering dust. 

“We’ll rest here a moment,” Roxas said as he stopped his horse by what used to be the main door of the building. Vanitas sighed thankfully as he was finally off the saddle, rubbing his ass as he took to leaning against the tree. 

“Gods, finally.” He took the time to splash his face with water from the canteen before gulping from it. 

Ven’s blush was thankfully covered up by the slight sunburn on his face as Xion offered him her hand to help him down. 

“Oh, th-thank you,” he stammered, clearing his throat and dusting himself off. 

“Hmm, I’m surprised at how relaxed you seem against us death knights since you’ve been locked away for quite a while,” Xion noted as she looked him over. 

“Well..I dunno. You don’t seem that scary to me. I think..you’re beautiful even.” 

Roxas snorted at the look on Xion’s face which earned him a kick in the shin. She had had underlings before when she was under the Lich King’s control, had a few companions here and there, but this guy whom she had just met was the first to call her...beautiful. There was a weight to the word like it sparked a distant memory that she just couldn’t reach. Maybe...a memory from when she was a human? 

“Thank you. I’m honored to be called that, Ventus.” She bowed to him before stalking off to sharpen her clayborn. 

“You should be honored. It’s not an easy feat to make her embarrassed like that,” Roxas sneered as he patted Ven’s shoulder. He left him to blush and made his way over to Vanitas. He felt...something..in his chest as he watched Vanitas chug water from the canteen. He had long shed off his jacket, leaving him in just a rather form fitting tank top: biceps on display with a thin sheen of sweat. His adams apple bobbed up and down with each gulp of water. Roxas found himself unconsciously licking his lips before he snapped out of his daze. 

“What do you think this ruin used to be?” Vanitas asked as he seemed oddly fixated on the dilapidated building. “I can still feel the aura it gives off.” 

“Aura? I don’t feel anything.” Roxas glanced between the ruin and Vanitas with his usual disinterested look. He supposed he should spend this time to sharpen his blades like Xion was doing, but..talking to Vanitas was far more interesting and the “view” was nice. 

“Well, I should expect a death knight to be ignorant of magic stuff.” Vanitas cleared his throat as he started to pace around, gesturing Roxas to follow. “Basically, everything living has its own aura. Yours is easy to feel because it’s cold as shit.” He gazed around as a gust of wind blew about a mix of petals and leaves. “All these plants have their own aura. Some mages can use this aura in their magic; in fact, all mages use different auras from different things. This garnet in my staff provides the power I need with the aura from the structures within it. The moon recharges it. Anyways, you know I’m a blood mage, so anything with warm blood pumping through their veins is power I can use even your ice blood. However, intention from consciousness carries its own power too.” He walked up to the old building, careful not to trample any flowers as he brushed his fingers against the decaying wood. “That’s how things that aren’t living can have an aura..a power. I can feel it coming from this building. It’s still powerful despite this thing not being used in a while. It must’ve been important.” 

Roxas drank in every word he said like he was listening to a poet tell tales of their travels. Beyond his ice magic, Roxas barely had a clue on how mages used magic or its origins besides the rune weapons. 

“Well, it looks like some tiny cathedral. Perhaps it was a place of worship, which could be why it has a strong aura,” Roxas suggested as he walked up to stand next to Vanitas. 

“Maybe..only one way to find out.” Vanitas shrugged and walked through where half of the door was missing. He noted the change in atmosphere as soon as he stepped inside. It was like the building had aged with time but the feeling inside had stayed the same like some sort of time capsule. Outside, there was the sound of wind, birds, and bugs. In here, there was an eerie silence with only muffled sounds of the outside. It almost seemed like they’d hear the echoes of a choir at any moment. Dust floated through the air like a haze in any sunny spots, giving it an even more ancient, ethereal look. Vanitas paused at a large, circular stained glass window that was fixed in the back wall of the main room. Part of it was shattered, but it seemed almost...purposefully. The figure portrayed in the part that wasn’t broken had an odd familiarity to it that nagged at the back of his mind. However, Roxas’ eyes widened as he looked at it, gasping under his breath even. 

“That’s...that silver haired knight, Riku. Remember him and Sora: the paladin?” He turned to Vanitas as he gestured to it. Taking a closer look, Vanitas did see the resemblance. The dark armor he wore even matched the depiction. As he studied the piece closely, he noticed a pair of boots and what looked like a halo of light at the top, though the rest was broken. 

“You think..the part that was shattered was..of the paladin?” 

Roxas took in the image a moment and backed up towards Vanitas again. “There is a story of an event. There used to be a kingdom called Scala ad Caelum. It was a shimmering beacon of light once. However, something happened where the King and his faithful knight just..disappeared. Scala fell without its leader. It’s now a ruined city of shadows. Many say this was done on purpose. There were some that wanted to dethrone the king. Perhaps this place is newer than we think it is. It might have been trashed in order to get rid of the image of the Scala king.” 

Vanitas paused a moment as he took in his words before gasping at the revelation. 

“Wait, wait, so if that’s Riku, then the other figure that would’ve been there is...Sora?? You’re saying he was the lost Scala king?” Vanitas could hardly imagine the pipsqueak as some powerful king. 

“Hard to believe, I know, but it explains why Riku is so protective of him. I’d probably be asking for an ass kicking if I asked them about next we meet.” Roxas shrugged nonchalantly, as if the information wasn’t ground breaking to him at all. “Something to keep in mind, though. Shall we go back outside?” 

“Uh, sure. This place is kinda giving me the creeps anyway.” Vanitas took one last look at the broken stained glass window before following after Roxas. 

It’s not like this new revelation was going to impede their travels at all, but Vanitas couldn’t help but think there was some kind of big connection to all of this. With a shake of his head, he put it out of his mind for now, happily relaxing under a tree with Roxas. The death knight pulled out his dual blades and took to sharpening them with a practiced hand. The two Frostmournes glowed faintly with their rune magic. Vanitas could’ve sworn he heard eerie whispers from the two weapons. Nevertheless, he found himself fixating on the movement of his hands as he sharpened and polished the blades. With a dazed look, his mind wandered elsewhere and thought of...other uses for that movement and..he quickly shook his head. 

“You ever polish a sword before?” Roxas asked out of nowhere, ghostly eyes fixed on Vanitas. 

“What?? Uh, I..um, no?” Vanitas cursed at himself in his mind at how that all came out. He took a moment to compose himself, though there was still a crack in his voice. “No, I haven’t. I’m a mage, remember?” 

“It’s a good skill to know regardless.” Vanitas could’ve sworn he saw a slight smirk on Roxas’ lips. “You can keep your daggers and such sharp and shiny.” 

Vanitas chose to keep his mouth shut for a bit to avoid anymore embarrassing utterances. To keep himself from getting distracted again, he focused on petting the Flood which was practically bouncing up and down for attention. It made tiny purring sounds as Vanitas brushed his fingers past their jagged antennas. For the first time, he noticed the new Unversed he had created back in the city when they freed Ven. For the moment, it simply rested against the wall of the trashed cathedral, red eyes closed. This one, like the Flood, seemed to be here to stay. Whatever that would bring when they went to another city was a problem for another day. 

“Y’all done flirting yet?” Roxas merely glanced up nonchalantly at Xion with her hands on her hips. “We should get moving again soon unless you wanna camp out in the wilderness.” 

“F-flirting?” Vanitas sputtered, nearly falling over. 

“Uh, yeah, don’t think I didn’t notice how intently you were watching him polish his swords. And we all know another meaning for ‘sword.’” She couldn’t help but giggle at his reaction as Roxas shot her a look. 

“Interpret it how you will. We were having some nice relaxing time.” 

Vanitas made a sound in the back of his throat when Roxas suddenly wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “Are you ready to get going?” 

“Y-yeah, I think so,” Vanitas managed to say, feeling the icy touch digging into his skin, feeling like there was about to be a sizzle with that cold touch against his warm skin. Centering himself once more, Vanitas managed to get up with Roxas’ help. As they got back on the horse, he glanced back at the abandoned building once more, continuing to do so as they took off. That eerie tug became fainter and fainter. 

**Author's Note:**

> based on the death knights from WoW  
> not too much violence in this first chapter but putting the warning up for later stuff


End file.
